


Kittens & Kisses

by dumbochan



Series: Just Like Animals [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, Kind of...? It was a secret relationship at one point, M/M, Secret Relationship, Various characters are zookeepers, zoo au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-25
Updated: 2016-02-25
Packaged: 2018-05-23 05:12:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6106003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dumbochan/pseuds/dumbochan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“That’s no way to greet your boyfriend.” Kuroo pouted before walking over to drape himself over Daichi’s back, placing his head on the shorter boy’s shoulder.<br/>“You’re taking your break later than usual, and Yaku will be back any minute. You know the deal about visiting when Yaku is scheduled here instead of at the snack stall.”<br/>“Right, because then it would be suspicious and people might catch on, and we wouldn’t want that now, would we?” The way sarcasm laced Kuroo’s words both annoyed and saddened Daichi.<br/>“Can we not do this right now?”</p><p>Aka the zoo AU no one asked for, but I had an overwhelming need to write.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kittens & Kisses

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this post I had on [tumblr](http://roronoaxd.tumblr.com/post/139546766297/zoo-au), I just have a huge thing for zoos. 
> 
> I was going to make a huge collection of drabbles, because thats pretty much what these fics are, there's no true plot (at least I don't think so yet), but I think it'll be best to just make a series since there's so many characters I want to involve into this. That being said, there will be more parts to the series! and of course the first part had to be kurodai, because I'm forever in kurodai hell, and not really trying to escape. 
> 
> Also, there's a part with implied smut, because I'm not good at writing it fully. That's a work in progress, but please enjoy everything else and use your imagination when you get to that part. ;)

If you asked Kuroo, working at a zoo had its perks. It was a job that helped him pay for rent, for food and all the other college expenses. It was also fun! Honestly, he probably had the best job at the zoo because he worked in the nursery. While Bokuto was avoiding bird shit, he was playing with jaguar cubs and while Iwaizumi was tossing rodents into Godzilla the Komodo dragon’s exhibit, he was bottle-feeding baby monkeys. Kuroo also got to avoid the guests who asked one too many questions (the ones that were answered on the posted information displays). He worked closely with the zoo veterinarians plus whenever the babies were sleeping or back in the exhibits with their parents, he got to just roam around the zoo, making life more difficult for his working friends.

 

If you asked Daichi, working wasn’t very exciting for him. The boy was stuck in a food truck without wheels, serving food, and dying from how hot it was with all those appliances on. He also _always_ went home smelling like frying oil and greasy burger patties. One advantage, if you could call it that, was working with such strict guidelines when it came to food safety and sanitation since it helped him stay organized and efficient, not just at work, but in life. It also rewarded him the fancy title of “Director of Food and Beverage”, but tacked on the responsibility of overlooking this cart, and another little kiosk that sold quick treats like ice cream or chips during the busier season. It was nice to have staff under him though, even if it was only Yaku.   

 

Despite their differing opinions, both Daichi and Kuroo loved their jobs, even when they had their moments when they thought the opposite. Everyone had an off day where they occasional said _fuck it_ to themselves after dealing with a few frustrating people, or animals in this case (the monkeys were like human children and occasionally threw their own temper tantrums), but they still enjoyed what they did. Their job also brought them joy in another way, it fueled their relationship.  

 

It all started when the zoo opened last year…

 

Kuroo and Daichi (along with a crap load of their friends) were broke college kids in need of a job, and who wouldn’t want to work at a zoo? Thanks to Bokuto’s mentor (Bokuto was a biology major until he could transition into veterinary medicine and had a mentor to help with said transition) their little crew was given the opportunity to interview at the zoo the mentor sponsored.

 

When Kuroo was assigned a position in the animal nursery, he didn’t realize how envious others (mainly Bokuto) would be. Bokuto was in the bird exhibit, Iwaizumi in the reptile room, and Oikawa was given monkeys, much to his dismay. Sugawara came on later, since he was assigned the petting zoo, and that wasn’t set to open until the zoo had been functioning for at least a month. Daichi was given the concession stand, but was asked to lend a hand to the nursery whenever needed.

 

The first time the nursery needed Daichi’s assistance was when the lion cubs arrived. There were two very energetic six-week-old African lions that needed to be bottle-fed every 3 and ½ hours, and Kuroo could not do it by himself, especially since the cubs were getting in their first teeth, and felt the need to gnaw on anything in their playpen. Daichi helped with feeding, including introducing the cubs into soft foods with pieces of meat, and watching the cubs as they got to play in some sunshine each day. They had spent a lot of time together, up until the cubs outgrew their nursery playpen and were allowed a more permanent residence with their parents, and during that time period, Kuroo might have developed a slight crush.

 

The second time Kuroo requested Daichi’s assistance, was really just an excuse to spend time with him. They helped introduce some otter pups into water, watching the pups circle in a plastic wading pool. Kuroo bragged about his knowledge of the animal, doing whatever he could to impress Daichi, throwing an occasional flirty statement here or there.

 

On his breaks, Kuroo started visiting Daichi at the concession stand, taking advantage of the free meals employees were allowed to consume. That’s when the flirting really amped up, and Daichi accepted Kuroo’s invitation to get coffee at the university café on a Monday before class.

 

Monday morning coffee became a regular occurrence after that, although it was so _not_ a date. Those so-not-dates turned to late night dinners and drinks. More so-not-dates led to little kisses, that turned into make-outs in secluded areas of the university library, that sometimes turned into sex if the mood was right, and it usually was.

 

All that went on for at least a year, before Kuroo realized he wanted _more_. He wanted an actual relationship, with true emotions and trust. That sudden desire became apparent mainly when Kuroo was at a party with Bokuto, who was trying to set him up with some guy from his organic chemistry class. At that moment, Kuroo realized he didn’t want to be with anyone that wasn’t Daichi. So he got drunk, called Daichi that night and pretty much said what he discovered in the sappiest, corniest way that his inebriated brain could come up with, and was surprised the next day when Daichi offered to take care of his hung-over ass once Bokuto was out the apartment and agreed to be his boyfriend.

 

Now it had been a month of officially dating, and both haven’t said a word to their friends about it. It was Kuroo’s idea. At the start when you could technically label them ‘friends-with-benefits’, Kuroo thought it wasn’t ever going to be more than that, and it needed be kept quiet. When they became official, he claimed since they worked together, they had to make sure the relationship wouldn’t get in the way of work dynamics before they went off telling everyone. It was a complete bullshit excuse Kuroo made himself believe, and was surprised that he had coaxed Daichi into believing too. An excuse because Kuroo was afraid to fall in love with Daichi too quickly, and the best way to deny that it was indeed happening, was to make excuses.

 

Daichi as a friend with benefits was nice, but boyfriend Daichi was a million times better. The only problem was the fact that they were still a secret, and having a secret boyfriend wasn’t as fun. Also, being seen as the only singles in a group of taken friends was a pain in the ass. _No_ , it was a little _infuriating_ _actually_ since most, namely Oikawa and Bokuto, loved to play matchmaker. Oikawa was always trying to push Daichi onto some guy from one of his marketing classes, and it took all of Kuroo’s willpower to not deck the sleazy bastards in the face when they invaded Daichi’s personal space. Although Daichi always declined politely, saying he wasn’t interested nor did he even need to be set up with someone, that didn’t stop Oikawa.

 

Kuroo wanted to stop hiding, not just to prevent matchmaker Oikawa from forcing his boyfriend on blind dates, but also because he was becoming one of those guys that yearned for public displays of affection, and not getting it was killing him. Especially since Daichi was a huge sucker for affection, and Kuroo wanted to explore just how affectionate Daichi could be. Instead of holding hands and sharing cheeky kisses behind doors, Kuroo wanted to be able to do it while walking to class, or catching a movie with his friends. All he had to do was just relay all of this to Daichi… that couldn’t be hard, right?

 

 

* * *

  


 

It was a Thursday and Kuroo was off to spend his break with Daichi, but first he had to pass the petting zoo. “Hi Sugawara!” He greeted, walking over towards the fence that enclosed the goats and llamas.

“Oh, Kuroo! Hey.” Suga greeted back, walking over to talk for a bit, “On a break already?”

“Yeah, some of the kids are getting their check-ups, so I’m not needed for now.”

“Off to go mess with Bokuto?”

“Actually, I think I’ll just get some food from Sawamura and head on back.” Kuroo informed, and searched Suga’s face for a reaction. He got nothing.

“I go on lunch in an hour, so tell him I’ll come and bother him then.”

“Will do. Have fun with your goats, llamas, and wild human children.”

“Thanks.”

 

Daichi glanced over at the clock while he refilled ketchup and mustard bottles. Yaku would be back from his break soon. A knock at the back door startled Daichi, and he peeked over his shoulder, watching the door open and someone enter. The bedhead was the first thing he noticed to be honest, and it caused him to roll his eyes. “That’s no way to greet your boyfriend.” Kuroo pouted before walking over to drape himself over Daichi’s back, placing his head on the shorter boy’s shoulder.

“You’re taking your break later than usual, and Yaku will be back any minute. You know the deal about visiting when Yaku is scheduled here instead of at the snack stall.”

“Right, because then it would be suspicious and people might catch on, and we wouldn’t want that now, would we?” The way sarcasm laced Kuroo’s words both annoyed and saddened Daichi.

“Can we not do this right now?”

“Fine. Can you make me something to eat? I skipped breakfast today.”

“What do you want?”

“Surprise me.” Kuroo said pulling away to take a seat next to the ice cream freezer. Daichi grabbed a hotdog, pierced it with a stick, dipped it in batter, and placed it in hot oil. In a separate fryer, he tossed some fries in a basket and dropped them into the oil, setting the timer. “When do you get off today?” Kuroo asked and Daichi turned to watch Kuroo play with the ice scream scoops sitting in a bucket of sanitizing liquid.

“I close today.”

Kuroo thought over Daichi’s words, the zoo closed at five, but most, if not all, staff members usually stayed back an extra hour to clean and/or prep for the next day. “So I can take you home?”

“I’m going to dinner with Suga after work.” Now Kuroo was pouting again. “Are you okay with that?” Daichi questioned grabbing a paper basket and placing parchment on it to plate Kuroo’s corndog and fries. He then dressed it with Kuroo’s favorite condiment.

“It just sucks we haven’t spent like any time together this past week.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” Daichi handed Kuroo his food, “I’ll make it up to you over the weekend.”

“How? Aren’t you working?”

“No, I have Saturday off.”

“I do too…” Kuroo pointed out, but he didn’t get his hopes up just yet, “What about roommate Suga?”

“He’ll be here training a new employee.”

“Finally getting help in the petting zoo, huh?”

“Yep.”

“And you finally have the apartment to yourself.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll be there to keep you company. I know it can get pretty lonely.” Daichi chuckled at Kuroo’s comment.

“You should go. I’ll have customers and Yaku back soon.” Daichi reached down to straighten Kuroo’s nametag before Kuroo stood back up.

“Can I get a kiss?”

“We’re at work.”

“No one’s around!” Kuroo protested, “Plus that hasn’t stopped you before.”

“Goodbye Kuroo.” Daichi started to push him towards the door.

“Wait, what’s that?” Kuroo pointed over Daichi’s shoulder, causing the boy to turn and look.

“There’s-” Daichi was caught off guard. When he turned back to face Kuroo, a kiss was stolen, and he could feel Kuroo’s smirk against his lips, even after he pulled away and quickly slipped out the door.

 

* * *

  


 

On Saturday, once Suga was gone to work, Kuroo made his way over to Daichi’s apartment. Daichi had told him the door would be unlocked for him, and he was free to let himself inside. He did so, heading to the bedroom to see Daichi sitting at his desk doing some homework. He walked over, kissing him as greeting, loving how Daichi practically melted into his touch. “Should we make a late breakfast together?” Kuroo suggested.

“Sure.” Daichi agreed, grabbing a hold of Kuroo’s hand and pulling him towards the kitchen.

 

They made and ate a quick brunch of eggs, toast, and tea, cleaned up their mess and then retired back to Daichi’s room. Kuroo collapsed on the bed, making himself comfortable while Daichi went back to his desk to do more work. “Really? You’re going to do homework?”

“Well, what do you suggest that I do?”

“Come and cuddle with me.”

“Why should I?” Daichi asked, getting up and crashing next to Kuroo anyway. Kuroo’s arms snaked around him.

“Because I said so.”

“That’s not a compelling reason.”

“Because I’m comfortable?” Daichi laughed and scooted a bit closer. “Was that compelling enough?”

“No, but it is true.”

“I’m a truthful man.” Daichi rolled his eyes, moving his head to get a good look at Kuroo. Kuroo’s eyes ran over Daichi’s and an idea popped into his head, “You have something on your face.”

“Really?” Daichi questioned, “Where?”

“Right…here.” Kuroo leaned closer, then quickly grabbed Daichi’s face and blew a raspberry against his cheek.

“Ew!” Daichi exclaimed, rubbing his cheek, “You have something on your face.”

“Oh really?” Kuroo moved his head so his cheek was on full display. Instead of blowing raspberries, Daichi placed a kiss on Kuroo’s cheek. “I think I have something on my other cheek too.” Daichi laughed and leaned down to place a kiss upon that cheek, not really surprised when Kuroo turned his head so the kiss landed on his lips instead.

“I knew you were going to do that.” Daichi mumbled.

“No talking, just kissing.” Kuroo requested.

 

Daichi deepened their kiss, moving so he was straddling Kuroo’s waist. Kuroo’s hands came up, grasping onto Daichi’s thighs to keep him into place, while Daichi’s own hands fiddled with the hem of Kuroo’s sweatshirt. Daichi pulled away from their kiss, taking Kuroo’s bottom lip between his teeth, smiling as he beckoned Kuroo to sit up. Kuroo did so, allowing Daichi to remove the piece of clothing, tossing it somewhere onto the floor. Daichi’s eyes scanned Kuroo’s torso before he pushed the boy back down onto his back, planting kisses along his jawline, down his neck, across his collarbones and back up his neck, grinding his groin slightly onto the growing tent in Kuroo’s jeans. Kuroo was shivering with anticipation when he felt Daichi begin to nibble on his earlobe, and whisper in vivid detail what he wanted and how he wanted it…

 

Kuroo grabbed some tissues to clean up their mess, tossing them and the condom away into the garbage, going back to the bed to lay with Daichi a bit longer. Daichi lie on his back in complete satisfaction and bliss, and Kuroo scooted closer, his upper half hovering over his boyfriend. “Nice receive.” Kuroo teased making Daichi smile.

“I’m just going to pretend that you didn’t just say that.”

“These are going to take a bit to go away.” Kuroo ran his hands gingerly over the fresh trail of bite marks adorning Daichi’s neck and chest.

“So are these.” Daichi ran his hands over the scratches and bites on Kuroo’s back and shoulders, before running his hands over and down Kuroo’s arms, letting them stay there.

“I should go.” Kuroo told Daichi, who then quickly tightened his grip.

“No, you should stay.”

“What about Suga?”

“You’ll still leave before he gets home. Just stay, please? A little longer? For me?”

“Fine, I’ll stay, but only because you make it so hard for me to say no.” Kuroo teased, making Daichi smile and pull him down for a kiss. Kuroo melted into it, settling against Daichi in a comforting embrace. Once the kiss was broken, Kuroo lie on his side next to Daichi, throwing an arm around him. Daichi smiled and grabbed a hold of Kuroo’s hand, intertwining their fingers, his other hand combing through Kuroo’s hair. “Someone’s lovey-dovey today. First a shit-load of kisses, and now post-coital cuddling. Either I’m just a great boyfriend or I gave you quite the orgasm earlier to deserve such treatment.”

“You had to ruin the moment, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re lucky that you’re cute.”

Kuroo hated to ruin another precious moment, but he had to, “Can we talk about it?”

“It being…?”

“Us. This relationship, where we’re headed.”

“What is there to talk about?”

“I’m tired of hiding it, aren’t you?”

“Well, yeah, I’ve been tired of that but you’re the one who suggested we keep it a secret anyway…”

“That was a year ago! When our flirting turned into making out, which then turned into sex. The zoo had just opened and I didn’t want everyone working there to know we were screwing around. Now is different. We’re not screwing around; we’ve been an official item for an entire month, you’re my boyfriend. I want to be able to kiss you or hold your hand whenever I want, not just behind closed doors. Don’t you want that too?”

“Yeah, I do… but I don’t want us to just spring this relationship on everyone. I’ll tell Suga and Asahi the whole truth, and you can do the same to Kenma and Bokuto, but everyone else doesn’t need to know that I’ve been sleeping with you for the past year and only just recently became your boyfriend. They can just know that we’ve been on a few dates, and are official now.”

“I’m okay with that.”

“Let’s just go with the flow a bit? We can tell other people and start the PDA after our closest friends know.” Kuroo cupped Daichi’s cheek, and he reached up, holding onto Kuroo’s wrist as a sign for them to stay like this for a bit.

“Me suggesting the sneaking around thing was pretty stupid now that I think about it.”

“It wasn’t stupid. We were newly employed at a new zoo, so I understood why you wanted to keep it professional.”

“Yeah, but I’ve always kind of crushed on you, so I should have known once I got you to agree to fool around with me that I would fall hard and want to show you off to everyone.”

“Stop, you’ll make me blush.” Daichi teased before Kuroo leaned forward to capture his lips in a kiss. At first Kuroo was afraid to fall in love with Daichi, but now there was no turning back because falling for Daichi was inevitable, and Kuroo was okay with it.

“There’s something else I want to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“We’ve known each other long enough, spent enough time with each other where we really know and understand the other person and their personality. So, I think its appropriate if I tell you that…”

“Yes?” Daichi had to bite his lip to prevent himself from smiling too much, and Kuroo noticed. He let out a slight chuckle and kissed Daichi again.

“Someone’s eager…”

“Just spit it out!”

“I-”

“Daichi!” The two boys froze for a second, because that sounded a lot like- “Daichi! Where are you?”

“Shit…” Kuroo said quickly getting out of the bed. Daichi followed suit, looking around for clothing. Daichi tossed Kuroo his underwear, jeans and a shirt and started pushing him towards the bathroom. The bathroom was a conjoining one, Daichi had an entrance and so did Suga.

“Hide in there for a second.” Daichi said trying to quickly place clothes on his own person.

“Wait! Daichi, this isn’t-” Daichi closed the bathroom door before Kuroo could finish his sentence. “This isn’t my shirt…”

 

“I’m in my room!” Daichi called out to Suga, shrugging on the last bit of clothing. He looked down and the noticed that instead of a t-shirt, he was wearing a red sweatshirt, a sweatshirt that had Nekoma printed in big white letters on the back. Daichi collapsed on his bed, and tried to act cool as his room door opened and in came his best friend and housemate Suga.

“There you are…in red?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong with red?”

“You just don’t ever wear it. Whatever, what have you been doing all day?”

“Oh, you know… homework. What about you? You’re home a lot earlier than you said you would be.”

“Yeah, well training Kyoutani didn’t take very long. The kid is a fast learner.”

“Kyoutani?”

“Yeah, remember him? Mad-Dog chan is what Oikawa calls him.”

“I remember him, how can you not. He now works in the petting zoo?”

“Yeah! And another kid from Aobajosai is a newbie too. Yahaba, he took over captain position when Oikawa graduated, him… he works with polar bears though.”

“Looks like Miyagi kids are all migrating to Tokyo.”

“Yeah, seems so, I think it has more to do with how those two really idolize Iwaizumi and Oikawa.”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right.”

“I really came to ask if you wanted to come shopping with me? I’m going to shower and then we can head out.”

“Oh, sure….”

“I’ll be ready in like 20 minutes.” Suga said hitting Daichi on the arm playfully before leaving the room. Daichi waited until he could hear Suga’s footsteps enter the other room and a door close before getting out of bed and running over to the bathroom. He opened the door, pulled Kuroo out and then quickly closed the door again.

“Why didn’t you tell me that I had your shirt?” Daichi said looking over Kuroo. _Good_ , he had time to dress himself.

“I was trying to and then you closed the door in my face.”

“Keep your voice down!” Daichi hushed pulling Kuroo away from the bathroom door just in case Suga had already entered it. “I can’t believe we almost got caught. This would have not been the ideal way to reveal to Suga that I’m dating you.”

“You know, red is a good color on you.”

“Kuroo!”

“What? It is! You should wear my clothes more often, especially since the sleeves are a bit too long for you. It’s cute.”

“You should be leaving.”

“I will need my shirt, unless you’re prepared to explain the giant Nekoma on the back.” Daichi quickly removed the sweatshirt and handed it to Kuroo, who was removing the white tee that belonged to Daichi. They switched shirts and Daichi started to push his boyfriend towards the front door. “I’ll text you later. Have fun shopping with Suga.”

“I’ll see you on Monday at the café?”

“As always.” Kuroo said quickly putting on his shoes. He reached for the door but Daichi grabbed his arm. “Two seconds ago you were pushing me out, now you’re stalling.”

“Don’t you have something to say?”

“If you’re referring to what I was going to say prior to being interrupted by Sugawara, that’s not happening.”

“Why not?”

“Moments ruined.”

“You can salvage it! You ruined moments earlier, and salvaged those!”

“Another time, now I have to go, or you’ll have a lot of explaining to do to your best friend.”

“Fine…” Daichi placed a kiss on Kuroo’s cheek before he slipped through the door and left Daichi alone. 

 

* * *

  


 

When Kuroo arrived at his own apartment, he collapsed onto the couch, stretching out his limbs. “Kuroo!” Bokuto called out as he entered their shared apartment.

“I’m on the couch!”

“I had such a rough day, man.” Bokuto complained, falling next to Kuroo.

“What happened?”

“First I was bombarded by a bunch of mothers because the birds wouldn’t land on their kids. I’m just a zookeeper, not a bird whisper! If one of my birds don’t want to land on your snotty kid, I can’t help you! Then they had the nerve to demand I give them some nectar to attract the birds, and I told them they had to pay, and they got mad at me. That’s zoo policy! You pay to feed the animals because food is not cheap!”

“I’m sorry.”

“I am too! You don’t have to go through this shit! You get to _play_ with babies all day! While I have to _deal_ with babies all day! I think my hair is sad about the situation too.”

“It still looks good.”

“Thanks. Now, second part of my day that was bad, Sawamura wasn’t at the concession stand! So, I had to make do with Yaku and he doesn’t know how to make the famous _everything-Bokuto-loves-and-cares-about_ hotdog! I had to settle for a regular, just mustard, hotdog.”

“Again, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah... but, now I’m home and chilling with my best bud! So my day can only get better right? What did you do today?”

“I… hung out with Daichi.”

“You’re the reason I had to settle! Why? Are you two working together in the nursery again?”

“He’s kind of my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?! Kind of?! Why am I just now finding out about this?! I thought we were bros!”

“We are bros! Daichi and I just thought it would be better to keep the relationship under the radar in its early stages.”

“How long? How long have you been seeing him right under my nose?!”

“A year, but he’s only been my boyfriend for a month.”

“A year? You—Kuroo how could you! I tell you everything, and you’ve kept something this big from me for a full year. I’m heartbroken. Does this friendship mean nothing to you?”

“Really, Bo.” Kuroo was trying not to laugh at the overdramatic human being that is Bokuto Koutarou.

“I guess I can forgive you, just this once.” Bokuto sighed, “Want to play me in Mario Kart?”

“Only if you’re prepared to lose!”

 

* * *

  


 

Shopping with Suga was hell for Daichi. Daichi was more of a shop when its necessary, and stick to plain, neutral colors, with the occasional patterned button down, lots of jeans and khaki pants for work. Suga on the other hand, was the opposite. He was a more, shop when you’re bored type of person, perusing through all the aisles and only buying items if he could find a full outfit, shoes and accessories included. It was a process, one that took way too damn long for Daichi. “If you like the shirt, why can’t you just buy it and figure out what goes with it later?” Daichi whined. They’ve been in the same store for the past hour, and he was tired of looking at the same tacky green walls.

“You can’t just buy a shirt and _hope_ that you have pants, shoes and accessories to go with it at home. My image is an investment. It takes time to look this good.”

“If you’re not going to buy anything, can we please move on to another store?”

“Fine, I guess we can move on.” Suga put the shirt back on the rack and grabbed Daichi by the wrist, pulling him out of the store and to the next one a couple stores down. “The guy who works here is really cute.”

“For you?”

“No, for you. Oikawa knows him.” Suga corrected and Daichi tried to not roll his eyes.

“I’m not interested.”

“Why not? You didn’t even give the guy a chance!”

Again, not really an ideal moment for Daichi, but he’ll take it if it means his friends would stop playing matchmaker, “I’m seeing someone.”

“You are?!” Suga’s eyes went wide and his mouth fell open.

“Wow, don’t sound so shocked.” Daichi was a bit hurt, “But yeah… I am, and I’m really happy with this person.”

“Who is it?”

“Someone.”

“Daichi, if you’re going to claim to date someone, he or she has to have a name.”

“If I tell you, you’ll get mad.”

“No, I won’t. I’ll be good, come on, tell me.”

“It’s Kuroo.”

“Daichi!” Suga then caught himself, inhaled, exhaled, and tried again in a softer tone, “How long?”

“One year.”

“That’s a long time.”

“Yes, it is. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“Its okay, you probably had your reasons, and I’m not going to push that reason out of you. That explains the sweatshirt earlier too. I’m assuming you two were together today.”

“Yeah…” Daichi’s ears felt hot suddenly.

“You might want to wear a jacket or something. Those hickies are starting to really show.” Suga teased, giving Daichi a playful shove and then returning to some shopping. Daichi walked over to the nearest mirror to survey his neck, pulling the collar of his t-shirt up a little more.

 

* * *

  


 

On Monday, when Kuroo and Daichi met up for their weekly coffee date, they came up with a plan on when it would be appropriate to reveal to their other friends that they were dating. Daichi had a plan on breaking to them individually, and Kuroo agreed although he really just planned on blurting it out whenever the chance arose. For the first time, they left the coffee shop together and Kuroo walked Daichi to class, holding on to his hand and kissing him goodbye, before heading off to his own class.

 

After suffering through morning classes, Kuroo headed immediately to the zoo to start his shift. He was changing in the employee locker-room and was soon joined by Iwaizumi and Bokuto. “Kuroo!” Bokuto called out, throwing his fists in the air.

“Aw man…”

“I haven’t even said anything yet!”

“What do you want, Bo?” Kuroo questioned and Iwaizumi went over to his locker to stuff his backpack in.

“Is Sawamura here yet?”

“No, why?”

“Since you’re dating him, I thought we should become even better friends than we already are!” Bokuto exclaimed and Kuroo face-palmed while Iwaizumi turned to him.

“You’re dating Sawamura?”

“Oops… did I say that out loud?” Bokuto questioned.

“You always talk loud, Bo, and yes, we’re dating.”

“Thank goodness!” Iwaizumi’s outburst confused Kuroo.

“What?”

“If I have to listen to Shittykawa create his own version of the Bachelor featuring Sawamura one more time, I will strangle him with no regrets.”

“You always strangle him.” Bokuto pointed out.

“But then I regret it later.” Iwaizumi admitted, “I hope he didn’t annoy you too much with his makeshift dating service. He does it because he’s become good friends with Suga and Sawa, and he feels obligated to insert himself in everyone’s relationship. Plus, he’s a sucker for double dates and Suga doesn’t date anyone long enough to have those with.”

“He’s been trying to hook Daichi up, just so he can go on double dates?”

“Pretty much.”

“He could have asked me and Akaashi!” Bokuto pouted.

“Thanks, but no thanks? I have snakes to feed, so… bye.” Iwaizumi grabbed his nametag, shut his locker and left the room.

“Ku-bro, am I not double date material?” Bokuto asked, close to entering one of his dejected moods.

“No! Oikawa just doesn’t know you and Akaashi as well as he does Sawamura!” Kuroo quickly assured, “I’d go on a double date with you.”

“Thanks. I’d go on a double date with you too.”

“Now, go tend to your birds. I have to prepare some tiger cubs for swim lessons.” Kuroo said leaving to change into a wetsuit.

 

When he was done changing and was stuffing the last bit of things into his locker, he noticed Suga was there too. “Oh, hey.”

“Hey, just the person I wanted to see.” Suga began.

“Did I do something?”

“Kind of. Daichi told me about your relationship, and I didn’t want to push him, but I have no problem pushing you for answers.” Suga smiled, and Kuroo understood why Asahi was so afraid of Sugawara.

“Well, push away, because I probably can’t talk my way out of this.”

“Why didn’t you want to tell us what’s going on? We’re your friends, we wouldn’t judge you. I’ve noticed a difference in Daichi’s mood, so I’m a little disappointed in myself that I didn’t piece things together, but you seem to make him happy. Did you think we wouldn’t accept that?”

“Well… can I be honest with you?”

“I would like to think so, yes.”

Kuroo paused to collect his thoughts. Suga was scary, because you couldn’t read his thoughts or gauge his reactions. He was always plotting, always observing, it reminded Kuroo of Yaku. Despite being scary, Suga was easy to talk to, he made you think about the things you didn’t want to think of, but you were suddenly comfortable enough to dwell on them. “I was falling too fast and it freaked my out. I thought maybe telling everyone would only ruin the moment, make it less special, and I didn’t want that because being with Daichi felt, it feels, so right. I want to keep it that way, but now I’m starting to see that I was being silly, and letting insecurities show because people knowing is a lot more comforting than I thought.”

“I’m not going to lecture you, because I understand what you’re getting at. I will suggest that you tell him though. Why not start this newly public relationship off with honest feelings? He’s into you just as much as you’re into him, trust me.” Suga patted Kuroo on the back, “I got to go check on Kyoutani. Great talk though.”

 

When Daichi arrived at work, he was already in his uniform so he went straight to the concession stand to do fill out some purchasing orders before he was scheduled to meet Kuroo to film for the Zoo’s YouTube page. He greeted Yaku who was reading a magazine as he waited for customers to come up to the service window. Daichi quickly filled out the forms, briefed Yaku on his plans and how he’ll be back in two hours to help. He then went towards the front office to turn the orders into the boss before changing into his wetsuit and grabbing the camera. On his way to the tiger exhibit, he was stopped by Oikawa, whom had a Bolivian squirrel monkey holding onto his arm in a body harness with a leash so it couldn’t get too far away from him. “Do you need something?” Daichi asked.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you were dating Kuroo? I had to find out from Iwa-chan. I’m a little hurt, Sawamura-kun.”

Oikawa was hurt but Daichi was blindsided, “I was going to tell you…when I saw you. Now, I see you, so… I’m dating Kuroo.”

“The guys I had lined up for you, are a little better, but if Kuroo’s your type, I’m happy. Of course, I would be happier if I was the one who set you two up…”

“I appreciate all the effort you put in for me, Oikawa.”

“You do?” Oikawa smiled brightly, “That means so much to me, Sawamura-kun! I know I’m pretty amazing, but it’s nice to hear from someone.” The squirrel monkey screeched, gaining Oikawa’s attention again. “Fine! Fine! I have to take this little guy to his check-up, but we will talk more about this another time.”

“Great…” Daichi called out, a smile on his face as he waved goodbye, but as soon as he turned his back to Oikawa, the smile faded.

 

 

When Daichi met up with Kuroo at the tiger swimming pool, Kuroo had just placed the cubs into the pen. The adult tigers were in their normal exhibit and were not scheduled to go swimming until later this week, so it was the perfect time to get the younger cubs used to the water. “Nice of you to finally join me.” Kuroo said handing Daichi a pair of water shoes to put on. “We’re just going to get some footage and let them have fun, and then Akaashi will edit it for a video.”

“You told Iwaizumi that we’re dating? What happened to letting everyone know individually, and doing that _together_.”

“Bokuto blurted it out when we were in the locker room, but how did you find out already?”

“Oikawa told me.”

“He told Oikawa?! I didn’t expect that to happen so fast…”

“I guess it’s out there now, so whatever, but still.”

“Are you mad?”

“No. There’s nothing to be mad over, if it was going to happen this way, we should have just been open from the get-go.”

“We’ll talk later; people are starting to gather around.” Kuroo said suggesting to the crowd forming on the other side of the glass. Daichi turned the camera on, and began to film while Kuroo got into the water. There were two tiger cubs, both boys, named Tony and Tora (thanks to Bokuto who got inspiration from Tony the Tiger on the frosted flakes box, and Tora is tiger in Japanese, ‘so why not name a tiger Tiger?’). The cubs were curious about their new play area, Tony shown no signs of hesitation, entering the water right after Kuroo, while Tora was more reserved, and followed Daichi around until Daichi entered the water too. Tony paddled instinctively, while Kuroo coaxed Tora into the pool. While the cubs played with various toys and bottles and Daichi filmed, they could hear Yamamoto explaining to the crowd how tigers were cats who actually really enjoyed the water, and this was the zoo’s resident cats favorite place to be during the hotter days, and they were even given kitty ice cream to stay cool.

 

After dropping off the footage to Akaashi in the front office, Daichi and Kuroo made their way back to the locker room to change out of their wet suits and back into their normal zoo uniform of khaki pants and safari shirts. “While we were playing with the kids-”

“The tigers are your kids now?” Daichi teased.

“I hand-raise a lot of these big cats, I can’t help it. So, while we were playing with them, I was thinking about some things, and I realized that I owe you an apology?”

“You do?”

“Yeah, this is coming out of the blue, but I think I wanted to hide our relationship because I was afraid that it wouldn’t work out… so I thought we should hide it, and if it failed, I wouldn’t have to do damage control with our friends, and they wouldn’t feel awkward about it being in the same room with us.”

“Oh.”

“I’m sorry, it was selfish to just think about myself on something like this, and especially since I made you believe it was a good idea too, when it was really stupid.”

“You know, there’s still a chance that this won’t work out.” Daichi pointed out, and Kuroo’s scrunched up his nose, “There’s always a chance that something might not work, so there’s nothing to be afraid of. I forgive you, although I truly don’t see a need for you to be sorry. I’m also not saying that I think we will ultimately crash and burn, because I don’t think that, but you never know what the future holds. Let’s just take it a day at a time.”

“How are you cooler than me?” Kuroo questioned and Daichi smirked.

“A lot of people are cooler than you.”

“Ouch, way to hit me straight in the ego. Can I get a kiss?”

“We’re at work.”

“A quick one? You owe me for bruising my pride so mercilessly.”

“You’re so dramatic like Bokuto.” Daichi pulled Kuroo down for a quick kiss.

“God, I love you.” Kuroo mumbled under his breath when Daichi pulled away. “I meant, damn… that was not the big romantic confession that I visualized.”

“I love you too.” Daichi said tossing the wetsuit into a specific bin and turning to leave the locker room. Kuroo grabbed him by the hand before it was too late, pulling him close to his chest.

“Wait… I wanted to say nice receive! You’re still cool even after I embarrassed myself like that.”

“Kuroo, stop talking.”

**Author's Note:**

> If I had the patience for drawing, I would have a whole collection of Zoo!AU based fanarts. Too bad, I don't have such patience, so I'll just stick to writing. Also, forgive me for the title. I don't know what I was thinking either. 
> 
> Next one might be Kyouhaba ft Matchmaker Oikawa. You can come yell at me on [tumblr](http://www.roronoaxd.tumblr.com) about this ridiculousness and we can talk about all things Zoo!AU. 
> 
> BTW, I have reasons why I put people in their respective exhibits. Yamamoto is the most fun, since Taketora means 'fierce tiger', why not have him in charge of fierce tigers? :)


End file.
